London, like many cites, has birthed writers and inspired writers. Novelists and playwrights have tramped its many streets. Poets and essayists have staggered out of its endless bars. Hundreds of years may have passed by but London is still haunted by reminders of its literary past in the walls and pavements around you.  Ed Glinert has been leafing through mountains of books to compile his exhaustive guide, Literary London, and has turned over the pages of the city's rich heritage.

Dividing London into designated areas according to postcode, Glinert has mapped out all the important places where writers lived, worked, or died.  The plays and books themselves are also incorporated into the appropriate sections too, showing where fact and fiction collide, describing the haunts of characters from le Carre's George Smiley to Phileas Fogg and of course the footprints of Sherlock Holmes are everywhere.  Certain individuals are almost indelibly inked into the city's history that they attract their own following.  Indeed, Glinert devotes entire sections to the likes of Shakespeare, Pepys, Dickens, Oscar Wilde and George Orwell.  When walking through Bloomsbury, Virginia Woolfe and her contemporaries are ever present.  William Blake had visions in Soho and Peckham Rye whilst Dylan Thomas found watering holes in Chelsea and Westminster.  John Betjeman breathed his first in Kentish Town whilst Joe Orton met his brutal end in Islington.

Glinert has organised his material into manageable areas which can be explored on foot.  Indeed it is an enjoyable and informative walking guide that encourages you to seek out thecapital's literary heritage in its bricks and mortars, where fact and fiction collide.  Incorporated into each carefully researched entry are social and historical aspects of each area or building, along with a list of the local bookshops.  Whilst the book is peppered with anecdotes from authors past and present, it remains a passionate but subjective project.  Certain writers are more favoured and prominent than others including two of the city's modern 'biographers', Iain Sinclair and Peter Ackroyd, but there's a lack of contemporary authors.  Does that mean they have left little impact on the city's make-up or are they not worthy enough?  Whatever the case, Literary London makes a fascinating read, encouraging Londoners and visitors alike to explore the streets and observe all around you.  An indispensable guide that should have you walking and reading your way through the Capital.